Chandler POV

I have been watching them since I spotted them three days ago, my mother helping me.

We know there are merely around twenty of them, which means only three full squads arrived for the job. They were watching one particular hotel as we were watching them. Whatever they are planning, there is no way they would do it openly. We are in the middle of a human city, one of the most crowded, by the way.

But it wasn't until my mother reported seeing Tonya entering the hotel for the party that I finally understood what was happening.

There is no way any hunter clan would have knowledge about the whereabouts of the Werewolf Council and not share it with other clans because none of the clans would be stupid enough to attack them alone, no matter the circumstances.

The hunters I noticed in New York came here for a regular hunt. Whoever pointed them in this direction or hired them hadn't told them that their job would be attacking the gathering of Alphas from different packs in this country right under the nose of the Werewolf Council.

So, someone hired them for a suicidal mission. They didn't bring enough manpower or weapons, so that means that they were lured, but for what?

My mother and I entered the hotel the moment she told me about Tonya and split up; in a matter of half an hour,  my mother reported to me that one hunter squad placed the explosives near the third floor, Tonya and the rest of the werewolves had to be because it's the only floor off-limits for the rest of the hotel guests.

Based on what I heard, there should be around a hundred people there, mostly Alphas with their families. I doubt hunter would risk blowing up the whole hotel, but the explosion for sure can hurt somebody. They also have to work fast. We are in the middle of one of the most crowded cities,  so there is no way that anyone will call the police or firefighters.

There were not enough hunters to kill all the werewolves. Still, enough to cause some harm, especially since the werewolves's security seemed too relaxed, so I didn't have much difficulty getting past two bodyguards guarding one of the doors to the kitchen. I told them that I got lost and they fell for it. But I was also noticed by one of the hunters who came here, there was a too big distance between us, but I heard him screaming to his phone to kill all the fuckers!

So I busted through the door, and thanks to all I hold dear for whatever reasons, most of the guests were gathered at the end of the large banquet room. Like the bodyguards, they were also relatively slow in understanding what was happening.

And then the strong impact of the explosion sent me to the wall. 

The world went blank for a very short moment, but now there is a ringing sound in my ears as I push my body to stand up. The chaos is enormous, especially when two squads of hunters run inside, releasing the wolfbane gas everywhere and shooting. Some people are wounded, but most of them seem rather shocked. All the Alphas shift; some of them assess the situation and start fighting, and some try to escort those who can't fight outside. Despite Alphas, many of their family members were in the gathering.

The wolfsbane will make them slower or blinded but not defenseless. I stay motionless with my back placed to the wall, holding my gun; the thick smoke makes it difficult to see anything. I'm in a highly dire situation because any Alpha who comes close to me will think I'm the enemy and attack, and the hunters may or may not mistake me for their own.

I stabilize my breath, looking around and trying to spot anybody familiar; I'm sure my mother is coming unless she is stopped by the hunters who had planted the explosive.

I hear the sound of bullets, snarls, and growling, screams of pain too. I fail to notice the movement on my right as the big wolf jumps at me. I manage to block his bite on my head with my arm and put a bullet in him with the gun in my second hand. He whimpers in pain but doesn't jump at me again because the body of the hunter is thrown between us, and Tonya, in her wolf form, steps in front of me, growling, so the wounded wolf backs off.

Tonya shifts back just for a moment to help me wrap my wounded arm provisionally. I explain to her extremely quickly how I ended up here. There is still a lot of smoke around us; hunters probably also throw smoke bombs.

She snarls, pushing me to the floor to avoid some bullets fired in our direction, and shifts again and takes a protective stance in front of me. I'm not a chicken, but I hope she won't leave me here alone because I won't leave this place alive. She whimpers and seems distressed; I'm sure wolfsbane is also affecting her, so we can't stay here.

I put my hand in her fur and slowly guide her toward the door, at least I hope to. We crawl, I don't dare to admit it.

I hear the sound of glass breaking and notice that most windows are smashed. That was smart because the poisonous gas would be able to leave the floor quickly. We get to the corridor. She snarls away two wolves who try to approach me.

There are some people in the corridor, and they all look at me, but Tonya doesn't allow them to be close; Mikkeli Blackwood gets close to us and states:

"We have locked them there; all doors are blocked. Soon, wolfbane's gas will be gone, and some of us will enter to kill them. There are no security cameras on this floor, and the hotel management will announce that there was a fire."

"There were too few of them; they didn't have any chance," I say, and Mikkeli nods.

I'm not sure how I feel about that when, about five minutes later, the group of wolves enter, and I hear screams of pain. But something else bothers me much more. After this, it will be much more challenging to convince the Werewolf Council to sign our treaty. I watch Mikkeli, and I know that he thinks the same.

Suddenly, both he and Tonya howl in pain and just run, run so fast down the corridor. Tonya shifts, and Mikkeli throws his shirt on her as they run to the lower floor. I follow them as fast as I can and soon stop in front of Hannah, lying unconscious on the back stairs leading probably to laundry or a place like that. Mikkeli kneels next to her, gently touching her. Tonya doesn't stop and runs down the stairs.

There is no chance of getting any explanation now, so I run after Tonya, yet she goes far ahead as we get to the underground parking lot under the hotel. I manage to open the heavy metal door. I'm unsure which direction she has gone, but I don't see her.

The sound of a car driving away very quickly reaches me and is soon followed by a gunshot. My blood runs cold as someone runs away, but I don't see them. I look around, shouting her name but there is no response.

Panic rises inside me as I walk fast between parked cars, looking, hoping, praying nothing terrible has happened.

In a moment, I notice someone lying in front of me in the pool of blood.

Noah POV

My hands are tied behind my back, and the fucking silver collar is on my neck. But unlike in Black Moon, this one is not covered with cattle skin, so it burns my neck, although this pain is irrelevant. Linus is howling in my mind as I try so hard not to start sobbing because I feel her dying.

That awful, monstrous fear is devouring me inside. She is weak, she barely breathes, and she is to be gone soon. Linus lies curled inside my mind, crying; there is no fight left in him; our marked mate is dying.

The van is moving fast. I have no idea where we are taken, but honestly, I wouldn't care about anything but her pain and her leaving me if it wasn't for Charlie.

He lies motionless close to me; the moment I felt the piercing pain in my chest and literally could feel Tonya's blood leaving her body, Charlie screamed in pure horror that they had a problem with holding him still. Thankfully, he lost consciousness, so they didn't put a collar on him, nor did they inject him with silver. He is alive; I feel it through our bond.

No matter how much I want to succumb to my pain and suffering, I can't. In a matter of minutes, I will probably feel Tonya's death, and a mere thought of it makes me want to do nothing but sob, makes me want to give up because nothing will ever make sense without her, and yet I can't... Charlie is still alive, Tonya's, and my child inside him is still alive. I still have something to protect. I still have someone to save; I still have to keep going, no matter what.

Although I'm not naïve enough to wish it would be easy. Shane had brought more people, and he must've known that the attack would have happened because they were waiting for us when we left downstairs.

The chaos was big because, inside the hotel's corridors, werewolves were mixed with humans who heard the explosions and were scared like hell. They were looking for a way out; too many people were moving around. And they were waiting for us and used the fact that I couldn't defend Charlie and Tonya's mother at the same time. He brought ten warriors, he didn't take me lately.

I close my eyes, trying to reach Linus, he suffers, but I need him. He can't give up yet; we still have to fight; we still have to try, at least. The enormous pain intensifies in my chest; I feel one of my marks bleeding, knowing perfectly well that the silver collar isn't a reason for it.

Charlie and the baby are the only thing that matters now. 

Tonya POV

The moment I saw Chandler and then the explosion happened, Shane wasn't important anymore; nothing was important except my loved ones and Chandler.

Before the explosion managed to knock me out, I had minlinked my father, and I knew he would come. The chaos was great as I stood up, covered in dirt and plaster from the wall.

I manlinked Noah to take Charlie and my mother as fast as possible and shifted, and that's when I got shot by a hunter's bullet in the leg. It was silver, but because it was placed not deep, I managed to bite it out in the blink of an eye.

The smoke was so thick I could barely see; wolfbane in the air was irritating Silver, yet I quickly found Chandler. After all, I'm familiar with his smell.

Noah minlinked me that he was out of the room, but we couldn't follow directly after him to the same entrance because of hunters and the fight. I was sure my father would handle the situation, so I let Chandler guide me. Wolfbane was more and more problematic for me and started affecting me.

As we stand in the corridor, I think this hunter attack was foolish because there were too few of them. They used an explosion as the distraction, but they should've blocked the door and left us all there for the mercy of wolfsbane. We would still win, but our casualties would be more significant.

I should probably thank Chandler for that. That might be their plan, but he exposed them too early.

And that's when I feel a sharp pain in my chest, and I know my mates are in danger, so I run.

According to protocol, when we are attacked by hunters on human territory, we go to hide among humans because that way hunters can't shoot us. That was the strategy now; all non-fighters at the party were supposed to go to the main hall and wait until the fight upstairs finished. Fire would be started to hide all the traces of the battle, and the firefighters would come.

Handling a bunch of hunters by a party full of Alphas isn't that difficult.

But I know my mates are in danger; I can feel it, and because my father has run with me, I'm sure my mother is too. I mustn't shift because the security cameras have only been turned off on the third floor. Silver feeling them is guiding me as fear literally starts choking me. I ignore my mother's motionless form on the floor. I won't stop running.

I have to get to them on time, and I have to...

The stairs have never been that long, the distance has never been that difficult to overcome, and my body has never moved so slowly.

I have to make it, Goddess, I have to make it...

As I burst through the door to the parking lot, my heart is about to crack because of exhaustion and disappear as I see the van's door closing behind my dragged-inside mates, and the car starts moving. I know I can't make it on time, yet I can't stop chasing them. I try to take the shortcut, not to let it reach the parking lot exit and block its way, but I'm stopped by someone I recognize.

He looks me dead in the eye, and there is guilt on his face, and yet there is no hesitation as he aims and shoots. I have no time nor strength to dodge as I feel a sharp pain in my chest and strange weakness take over my body as I fall on my back. Pain is excruciating, so blinded that I have no force to scream. My lungs are desperate for oxygen, and yet every breath carries the pain so intense I wish I could stop.

Silver howls in despair, in agony, in fear... I cough, feeling blood in my throat and mouth, and yet I can't even lift my finger...

Silver backs away into the depths of my mind; I feel her calling me to follow...

The darkness slowly surrounds me; voices are screaming my name from a very long distance...

I may be immune to silver, but being shot with a silver bullet in your heart will kill any werewolf, including me...